My German Vacation

Oki-doki, so I would have posted something a bit earlier, but I conveniently happened to forget my log-in information for my blog, lol. (Sorry! I play the blonde card in my defense!)

I am still on vacation; the school is giving us two weeks in August, which is quite nice of them. My host family and I are currently staying in an apartment (Wohnung) in a town called Bernkastel-Kues on the Mosel River. All along this region they're known for their wonderful wine. The vineyards are all over the place, stretching over the hills like a big patchwork quilt. (I should know; my host family and another family they know took us all on a three-hour hike yesterday, just for the fun of it! It's okay, you can laugh, it's amusing.)

There are lots of shops and cafes and whatnot here, and the cobblestone streets are really quite fun to traverse (if only we were interested in that and not hiking the hills, lol). When walking along, you can look up and see vines stretching overhead, and grapes hanging down in bunches. Later in the evening, when the lamps are lit, it looks a lot like something we in California would attempt to replicate with glue and plastic, lolz. (Referencing Disneyland, here.)

It's raining today-big surprise there, hahaha-and I don't even want to know what the temperature is. All that I need be aware of is that it is cold and wet, and I feel like a drowning cat. But no matter! We shall strive to perservere! Against the rain! Against the wind! We shall meet them on the land! We shall meet them on the sea! We shall-oops, sorry, got a little carried away there...

Oh, so here are a few differences I've found between Germans and Americans:
1. They have REALLY good bread which they eat with REAL butter and REALLY good jams.
2. They sit down to eat every meal. No on-the-go breakfasts here!
3. They don't pick up after their dogs. It's not very fun having to avoid all the caca on the street..
4. There is no distinction between a walk down the street and a walk to the end of the earth. Both are simply, "a walk."
5. There are no napkins at the table.
6. Preservatives and chemicals in food are BAD.
7. Television is to be watched sparingly if at all.
8. No shops are open on Sundays, unless it's in a really big city with lots of tourists. (This throws me off because I tend to do shopping on the weekends.)
9. They have a "coffee and cake" time every day. It's usually around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. (16:00 Uhr)

I'm only going to give you nine points right now, because ten would seem like a finished list, and I don't think I can tell you all about the differences between our two cultures in just ten points. So there you go, the gouda, the brautwurst, and the ulkig. (That was a bad pun.)

TGWTC, livin' it up ;)